


We Met in Jail

by miangel29



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Crack, Drama Queen Minhyuk, M/M, Minhyuk's POV, Ninja pairing, Protester's AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-18 19:23:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20644388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miangel29/pseuds/miangel29
Summary: Minhyuk is forced to share a detaining cell with the one person responsible for getting him arrested in the first place. He also doesn't take too kindly to the fact that all of his friends refuse to join in his antagonistic hatred towards said cellmate. But maybe Minhyuk had judged too soon.





	We Met in Jail

**We Met in Jail** \- _Hyunghyuk_

***

This was unfair.

This was injustice.

This was a rights violation.

Let the record show that Lee Minhyuk made these points verbally clear and vocally explicit, in varying degrees of deprecating, provoking, and orationary spiels, but at an equal and unwavering volume that echoed around the small local police precinct. The small office-like building held a narrow lobby, one open space office area with a glass-paneled corner for the local chief, and two cramped detaining cells. There might have been an interrogation room somewhere near the shared bathroom, but Minhyuk hadn’t had the luxury to explore all the unmarked doors, having had been immediately herded into one of the holding cells. Nevertheless, the lack of breadth of the precinct made it just that much easier for Minhyuk’s voice to travel to every hearing ear.

“YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO DETAIN ME! THIS A VIOLATION OF MY RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH AND FREEDOM OF CONGREGATION! THIS IS ILLEGAL AND UNSPEAKABLE! I WILL SUE YOU IN COURT AND _ YOU _WILL BE THE ONE BEHIND BARS!”

The officer who had taken him in raised both eyes in Minhyuk’s direction, eyebrows also raised, but expression calmly blank. Minhyuk glared back with all the venom he could muster through his eyes, the shrill of his voice already telltale enough of his anger. If he was truthful, though, Minhyuk was a lot more offended by the lamb skewers the officer had in his hand and the spread of street food he had before him on his work table than the indifference he was being subjected to. He hadn’t eaten anything all day, damnit!

As if his voice wasn’t already loud enough to beat the noises of the busy metropolitan city outside, Minhyuk began flapping his self-made signpost against the metal bars, the cardboard simply serving to fan wind in its immediate proximity. Add on the colourful lettering Minhyuk had used to write up his sign, and he didn’t exactly exude an aura of menace. It really didn’t help either that he hadn’t removed the overly large, also self-created headpiece of a blue whale on his head.

“WHALES DESERVE JUSTICE! WHALES DESERVE CLEAN OCEANS! YOU CANNOT KEEP ME QUIET AS LONG AS WHALES CONTINUE TO SUFFER IN A SEA OF PLASTIC! WHALES WILL–”

A loud grunt of a snore interrupted Minhyuk’s monologue. His eyes narrowed and with the air of a build-up towards an impending fit of rage, he slowly turned where he stood to the other only occupant of his holding cell: the man leaning against one corner of the wall, legs tucked in and eyes closed but his mouth wide open with an almost comically long line of drool threatening to snap off onto the floor. His own sign portraying a very haphazard collage of sea turtles caught in fishing nets and plastic beer circles crumpled by his side, similarly reflected in the t-shirt he wore.

Or, as Minhyuk had affectionately nicknamed him, _ The Bane of Minhyuk’s Existence _.

It was easy to direct Minhyuk’s anger and frustration at the only person he could physically reach (mind you, he fought hard against the currently lunching police officer who had taken him into custody, but that had as much effect on the officer as a passing grain of dust on a stone brick wall). But it wasn’t merely that this sleeping man was the only unfortunate soul he could throw his cardboard sign at, he was also, in Minhyuk’s eyes, the reason they were in this debacle.

If it hadn’t been for him, Minhyuk would still be with the crowd outside, passionately advocating for the government to take harsher measures against companies polluting the sea and violating the country-wide policy to limit plastic-heavy products. Instead, he had gotten taken aside for a brawl he hadn’t even initiated.

He hadn’t been the one to point fingers at the passing civilian bystanders who had just exited a nearby fast food establishment. He also hadn’t been the one to start shouting in their faces for using plastic straws and plastic bags to carry their food. He also hadn’t been the one to try to forcefully take their food and drinks out of their hands.

What he _ had _ tried to do was reason with the group of people that confiscating people’s food did nothing to educate the dangers to the ocean, part of the point of their entire movement. What had happened was a tussle of said confiscated food that resulted in the purchases falling open and its contents littering the ground. While peaceful protests weren’t illegal, littering most definitely was a violation of public decency. And within seconds, Minhyuk found himself suddenly escorted into a police car with one of the people who had confronted those poor fast food-buying bypassers.

He had shouted the man hoarse and tried to appeal for his innocence to the police officer. When he was but ignored, only to be put in a holding cell (“Until someone responsible can bail you out,” he had been told), he followed up with his loud tirade to the police officer of his infringement of rights. He couldn’t believe the man who had been accomplice to the actual problem in the first place was now fast asleep, nether a care for where he was and what was happening to him.

It would have been easy to just throw his own cardboard sign at the sleeping insolence, but that would have inflicted minimal damage, barely a glimmer of what Minhyuk felt was deserving of his cellmate. And so, Minhyuk abandoned his tirade against the calmly eating police officer and began his attack on the slumbering man.

“WAKE UP, IDIOT!”

Each word was punctuated with as much force as Minhyuk could put into the cardboard making contact with the sleeping man.

“YOU’RE THE REASON WE’RE IN THIS MESS! HOW CAN YOU FALL ASLEEP?”

Whether it was his yelling or the whacking to his body, or a combination of both, but the man stirred awake, still very calm for someone facing a crazy-eyed and almost manic-looking Minhyuk (his friends had told him that even in his angriest mood, Minhyuk’s demeanor was still as intimidating as a yelping bichon frise. Not that they would ever _ not _ take him seriously; all of Minhyuk’s friends knew he could probably get away with murder if he wanted to). Maybe this man would have to find out Minhyuk’s possible homicidal inclinations _ the hard way _.

“Ow...that hurts,” the man said in an almost inaudible mumble. “Stop hitting me.”

“I’LL DO WHATEVER I WANT! IT’S YOUR OWN FAULT YOU WERE ASLEEP! DO YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO YOU IF THIS WAS REAL PRISON AND YOU LET YOUR GUARD DOWN TO SLEEP?”

“I would probably have my own cell and be able to sleep, that’s what would happen,” came the responding grumble, but he did very little to remove himself from Minhyuk’s line of fire.

With a loud, animalistic growl, Minhyuk resumed his destruction of his feeble sign on the man’s admittedly thin frame. It would just be a battle of who would give in first: Minhyuk’s sign or the skinny man. Minhyuk ignored the fact that he was creating more wind than hits with his cardboard sign, the puffs of air around the man softly blowing away his long, black locks away from his face, the strands falling back into place in effortless waves with every upwind stroke of Minhyuk’s sign. (No, Minhyuk definitely did _ not _ think about how silky they looked and itched to run his hand through them to quench his curiousity.)

A slightly distant ringing bell tore both of their attention away from the assault at hand. It was immediately followed by a voice Minhyuk could recognize from an entire continent away. In any other situation, he would have shot some sarcastic comment at the owner of that voice, but right now, all he could be was downright grateful.

“Kihyun! KIHYUN! KIHYUUUUUUUN!” Abandoning _ The Bane of Minhyuk’s Existence _to resume his place right against the metal bars, Minhyuk spared no shame in screaming out his friend’s name. “HERE! I’M HERE!”

Kihyun came in with a different police officer, this one slightly more buff, approaching the officer who had, by now, finished the snack spread he had to himself. His proclaimed best friend (a title Minhyuk would only admit in his time of need and when Kihyun was actually playing the role) spared a look in Minhyuk’s direction, sighing and rolling his eyes at the way Minhyuk was pressed up against the bars, desperate to be freed, as though he would somehow be able to pass by the metal bars if he put enough thought into it.

A soft conversation was exchanged between the two police officers, one that Kihyun watched very closely with a small smile on his face that Minhyuk thought was uncalled for in this situation. He didn’t miss the blush that tinged Kihyun’s cheeks and the way his smile got wider when the lunch-eating officer asked him to sign a few documents, explaining what they were in the process. Minhyuk wasn’t so sure Kihyun fully understood what was being explained to him if his goofy smile was any indication. Or, even if he did, he wasn’t really taking it seriously as he should be with the distraction of the attractive officer (Minhyuk’s best friend had a type and it was definitely tall, broad-shouldered, well-built, handsome men who looked like he could engulf Kihyun with half a hug).

Nevertheless, the officers deemed his consenting nods sufficient for due process and led him to where Minhyuk was being held, the keys in hand. It took a while for them to unlock the door because Minhyuk could not contain himself being so close to freedom and stood too close to whether the lock was, disrupting the keys from properly unlocking the door several times. Kihyun had to glare at him before he took a step back so they could release him.

“You’re such a bother,” Kihyun sighed.

“Shut up. You love me,” Minhyuk said, hugging Kihyun once he was free.

Kihyun returned the hug with another sigh and a pat to Minhyuk’s back, releasing him with an exasperated shake of his head. Minhyuk made for the exit, but Kihyun was still turned towards the cell. “Come on, Hyungwon-ah. We have to go.”

Minhyuk had never made a 180-degree turn faster in his entire life. The scene he saw before him was enough to make him want to actually commit criminal assault openly at a police station. He would gladly be locked up again just to vent out his outrage at what was happening.

Kihyun was guiding Hyungwon out of the cell and also giving him pats on the back. _ Betrayal _, Minhyuk’s mind screamed. And he probably would have verbally done so as well if Kihyun didn’t immediately catch his eye and glare him down with a silent warning. Kihyun may be petite, but Minhyuk knew better than to pick a fight with him when he started giving cold glares like he just had. The formula for safe Kihyun handling was inversely related to his chattiness: the more quiet Kihyun was, the better to simply stay silent as well.

Minhyuk made a quick dash once they were outside of the police station and Kihyun had pointed out a car parked close by as their ride home. He made a silent dibs for shotgun by standing right by the passenger door, not saying another word when the car door was unlocked and he climbed in, protest sign now a crumpled mess at his feet. He wanted the luxury of sending Kihyun pointed glares from the privacy of the front seats, blocking out the offender who would have to take the backseat.

Nothing seemed to go as Minhyuk had anticipated, however, when the door to the driver’s seat opened, but it wasn’t Kihyun’s average-length legs that climbed in, rather, much longer and limber ones Minhyuk had seen folded very compactly in a corner of the police station holding cell.

“_ What _ are you doing?” Minhyuk demanded, flitting between staring in disbelief at the offending driver and glowering at Kihyun who was buckling himself in the backseat.

“Hyungwon’s the better driver and it’s his car anyway,” Kihyun shrugged off.

There was so much Minhyuk tried to convey in one glare, but Kihyun simply stared back at him with raised eyebrows, clearly not in the mood to entertain his passively seething best friend. Minhyuk made a mental note of all the things he tried to say in that glare for a later conversation with Kihyun.

Unable to vent out at his best friend yet left with really no other choice but to remain in his seat as Hyungwon began merging onto the street, Minhyuk took to crossing his arms on his chest and grumbling. “Take me home last. I don’t want you to know where I live.”

Kihyun let out a loud groan. “Minhyuk, he is literally the one driving. He _ can’t _ take you home last unless you drive the car there yourself and the last time I checked, you didn’t have a driver’s license. Now shut up, sit back and let Hyungwon drop you off at home.”

Minhyuk couldn’t help the pout on his face. “Well I’m not telling him where I live.”

A deeply exasperated sigh escaped Kihyun. Minhyuk would not have been surprised if he’d found Kihyun’s fingers suddenly wrapped around his throat.

“Should I drop you off first, Kihyun?” Hyungwon was asking.

“No, drop this idiot off first. I don’t trust him to be alone with you,” Kihyun said. “He lives with Changkyun.”

Hyungwon’s eyebrows rose and his expression was contemplative for a moment before he made an affirmative, “Okay.”

The car ride became tensely silent afterwards as Hyungwon drove his way to Minhyuk and Changkyun’s shared apartment with seemingly memorized knowledge of the best route to get there. Minhyuk caught Kihyun shaking his head silently at the obvious and clearly unabashed way Minhyuk was sulking. But Minhyuk refused to utter another word, only because he was thinking of the indignant rampage he was about to inflict on his roommate once he’d arrive home.

***

It became very apparent very quickly that Changkyun would not be the sole recipient to Minhyuk’s tirade of angry betrayal. Of course Kihyun had already made that list earlier in the day, and Changkyun followed very soon after, getting an immediate earful the very second Minhyuk stepped into their apartment (only to raise a single eyebrow and get a very brief glance away from his computer screen in return), but Minhyuk would have never believed, in his twenty-odd years of living on earth, that he would be screaming on the phone about treachery to one Lee Jooheon.

“_ HOW COULD YOU? _ ” Minhyuk was currently shouting into his phone. “HE IS MY MORTAL ENEMY AND _ YOU LIVE WITH HIM _.”

“HYUNG, YOU LITERALLY JUST MET HIM TODAY. HOW CAN HE BE YOUR MORTAL ENEMY?” Jooheon was shrieking back. “AND I HAVE LITERALLY MENTIONED HIS NAME EVERY TIME I MENTION MY ROOMMATE, IS IT _ MY _ FAULT YOU ALWAYS REFUSE TO COME HANG OUT AT _ MY _ PLACE SO YOU COULD ACTUALLY MEET HIM?”

“That is _ besides _ the point!” Minhyuk insisted.

“I’d say Jooheon-hyung’s defense is pretty much on point,” Changkyun commented from where he was still slouched over his computer desk, clearly having heard the exchange even without speakerphone being put on. But his attention was still fully focused on his computer screen, headphone half on and his fingers clicking away at his mouse and keyboard as the images on his screen shifted quickly through the game he was playing. 

Minhyuk was immediately invading his much-appreciated personal space in an instance, choosing to selectively ignore the fact that Changkyun was in nothing but his boxer shorts (it was actually an improvement, after the first few weeks of their living together, Changkyun seemed quite allergic to the notion of civilized undergarments). “_ You _. Shush! I’m still not done telling you about your own act of treason.”

Changkyun rolled his eyes, pulling his other headphone back into place, effectively shutting out any further distracting noise from the shouting match taking place between his roommate and another one of their mutual friends. Minhyuk would have hit him over the head for such rude insolence, but Changkyun had proven to be a very compatible roommate thus far, not only tolerating Minhyuk’s exorbitantly vibrant personality, but rivaling it with his own weird one. He would be hard pressed to find an alternate roommate. So he settled with a small flick to Changkyun’s head before resuming his rant on the phone.

“I will not have _ you _ , one of my most prized friends, _ fraternizing _ with the enemy!” Minhyuk went on.

Jooheon, at that point, was in hysterics. “What do you want me to _ do _ , hyung? I can’t just up and leave or tell _ him _to leave. This is as much my apartment as it is his!”

“I don’t _ care _ how you do it, but I don’t want anything to do with him and I swear on the life of your cats that if you continue to...associate yourself with him, I will make your life _ very _ , _ very _ difficult.”

“Hyung, you’re being unreasonable.”

“_ I had to spend an entire afternoon in jail because of him _,” Minhyuk said through gritted teeth.

“And so did Hyungwon-hyung!” Jooheon pointed out. “Not to mention he told me you kept screaming and whacking him with your sign.”

“He had it coming!” Minhyuk cried out. “Whose side are you on anyway?”

“I’m not taking sides! I’m just trying to reason with you, hyung!”

“I don’t need to be reasoned with! I need people who I _ thought _ were my friends to actually start _ acting _like my friends!”

Minhyuk hung up on Jooheon without another word, seething and too angry that yet another one of his closest friends was refusing to see his side of things, as though they, having prior acquaintance with the _ bane _of Minhyuk’s existence, had all conspired to collaborate in taking on Hyungwon’s newly founded role and make Minhyuk’s life a little less comfortable than it had been.

“Hyung, I have a proposition.”

Minhyuk had just been thumbing angrily at his phone screen to add multiple angry emojis next to Jooheon’s contact name (ones he had already added to Kihyun’s contact with earlier that day), when he turned to the calm voice that spoke. Changkyun’s game had seemingly been paused, his headphones hung loosely on his neck, and his stance calm, face void of expression.

“I don’t like propositions,” Minhyuk said dismissively, moving towards his bedroom for some self-pity and wallowing in his own misfortune.

“I promise to wear proper pants for a week if you hear me out and accept my proposition,” Changkyun bargained.

Minhyuk halted in his steps, turning to look at Changkyun with narrowed eyes. “A month.”

“A week and a half.”

“Two weeks.”

Changkyun rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

“I’m all ears,” Minhyuk grinned.

“It is unfortunate that you and Hyungwon-hyung met under unfavourable circumstances–.”

“Please speak like a normal human being and not like you’re giving a lecture on the history of life on earth,” Minhyuk interjected.

Unfazed but for a small frown marring his face, Changkyun continued, “but you both share the same social circle, so it was inevi..._ you were bound to _run into one another at some point in time. The only reason you haven’t is because you’re fussy about where you like to hang out and Hyungwon-hyung only comes out of his room once in a blue moon.”

“So he’s an anti-social hermit?” Minhyuk asked. “_ Splendid _company you, Jooheon and Kihyun like to keep.”

“_ I propose _,” Changkyun went on, ignoring Minhyuk’s jab at Hyungwon’s introversion, “that we arrange a small gathering where the whole group can get together, you and Hyungwon-hyung can meet, talk, get to know each other, and hopefully start with a clean slate this time.”

Minhyuk’s eyes narrowed once more. “And what makes you think I’d willingly go _ anywhere _ I know that _ insolence _ will be?”

Changkyun set Minhyuk with a deadpan glare. “Thus the reason I brought up my two-week pants deal, hyung.”

It was a good bargain, Minhyuk himself had to admit. He’d been trying for _ years _ to convince Changkyun to dress like a decent, non-exhbitionist housemate to very little avail. To have his sight saved from unwanted nudity, even for a brief two-week reprief, was a luxury he didn’t think he could ever afford.

His silence conveyed his answer even if he gave no actual verbal consent. Changkyun’s previously stoic face melted into a small smile, one where his dimples appeared and always made Minhyuk think of a small kitten or puppy swimming in self-pride at having pleased their human.

“I’ll set it up then!” Changkyun said gleefully, clapping his hands together.

***

When Changkyun had mentioned a get together and Minhyuk getting to know Hyungwon with a clean slate, he had expected a simple coffee meet-up or a barbecue dinner where they could eat good food, squabble over who got the last piece of meat, and maybe get a drink or two to ease the mood. He definitely hadn’t pictured being in a confined, darkened room, colourful strobe lights and a large LCD screen the only thing preventing the room from being downright claustrophobic, with a deafening sound system that resonated beyond just these four walls.

Trust Changkyun to come up with the one social situation where not a single person would feel out of place being awkward yet also find easy commonalities to break the ice and form bonds. Changkyun’s choice for karaoke was pretty brilliant, if Minhyuk was being honest with himself. Not that he would ever let Changkyun know.

And despite his initial misgivings (followed closely by his stubborn determination to adamantly hate everything about that rendezvous), Minhyuk found that he was actually enjoying himself.

The roulette of turns had now circled back to Kihyun, who, despite probably having the best voice within the group, effortlessly capable of pulling off the most vocally-challenging songs, chose a very laidback, simple track about soft crushes. Minhyuk would be probing more into the meaning of Kihyun’s song choice (there was _ always _ a meaning behind every song Kihyun would choose at karaoke) if he wasn’t so geared up for his upcoming turn.

He was _ so ready _ for his turn.

Minhyuk barely let Kihyun settle down to see his score displayed on the screen before he was already grabbing the mic from his hand and getting up from his seat, pose confident and prepared as the beginnings of his track began to play. Jooheon and Changkyun, well used to this mandatory Minhyuk performance, only served to hype him up even more if the loud cheers and whistles were anything to go by. From the corner of his eye, he caught Kihyun shake his head but only very fondly, he, too, much too accustomed to Minhyuk’s obligatory stage. Another brief glance at his audience before the lyrics began had him catching a rather blank and unreadable Hyungwon.

_ Of course the uncultured idiot wouldn’t know this song _ , Minhyuk thought to himself smugly, happy that he at least had this one thing over his _ sworn enemy _. It was time for Minhyuk to display himself at his best. 

“_ Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? _”

A band named Queen would require nothing short of royalty like Minhyuk himself to perform his rendition of the world-renowned song. And perform he did.

What he hadn’t taken into account, however, was the other, unattended microphone, being ceremoniously whipped off its resting place by the growing pool of accumulated dew of Jooheon’s beer, to bring forth a much deeper echo of Minhyuk’s husky tone.

“_ Mamaaaaa _....”

He should have been offended. In all and any possible projections of the repercussions of that action for anyone and everyone who knew Minhyuk, there was no possible way this could turn out well. 

And it was definitely obvious in the way Minhyuk’s three friends (playing very loosely on the term because they had fallen into this circle of friendship rather accidentally—but that was a story for another day) reacted. The almost simultaneous sharp inhale of breath from Kihyun, Jooheon and Changkyun was loud enough to be heard even over the deafening music. If that wasn’t enough, the way their eyes widened and fixated on Minhyuk, waiting with bated breath for his own reaction. He really didn't blame them. As far as reconciliations went, this was probably the one thing that could destroy Changkyun's seemingly foolproof plan.

Minhyuk really should have been angry. This was supposed to be his solo stage, his time to shine, _ his song _. He could have easily just thrown the microphone hovering in midair mere inches away from his mouth at the man clutching its twin with both hands and crooning out the entire beginning verses with a surprisingly steady low tone. Instead, he stood, watching. Mesmerized, if he was being truthful.

Hyungwon paused in between verses, eyes finally opening and, without abandon, without hesitation, meeting Minhyuk’s head-on. It was difficult, amongst the loud music and involuntarily enraptured audience to discern whether the look was a silent call for truce or a challenge. The ball had been thrown in Minhyuk’s court. Hyungwon had taken the first serve, cutting into his song, possibly as a poorly perceived olive branch, but an olive branch nonetheless—only if Minhyuk interpreted it as such. It would be quite possible and highly probably things could go astray very soon and very quickly.

The audience of three waited with bated breath.

“You like Queen?”

Hyungwon didn’t miss a beat. “Is plastic the most horrible invention humankind has ever made?”

Perhaps the universe was shining a beacon of direction. Perhaps it came in the form of the song picking up right after Hyungwon’s answer and they both, in unison and surprising harmony, took to continue singing.

And chancing a glimpse at Hyungwon almost doubling over in effort at all the higher tones, laughing at his own incredulity but never failing to match Minhyuk in his own boisterous singing and dancing, Minhyuk could not help the smile that only continued to grow on his face.

Perhaps Minhyuk could stand to live with having Hyungwon in his life, after all.

***

This was unfair.

This was injustice.

This was a rights violation.

Minhyuk still certainly felt very strongly about the unjustness of it all. Except this wasn’t as bad as it had been the first time.

Especially now that he wasn’t yelling at his captors (the police officers) nor trying to inflict physical abuse on his unwilling cellmate. As a matter of fact, even if he shared the same narrow four walls with the same lanky, lazy man who took up a surprisingly small space in the corner of the cell, at the very least they were locked up under more favourable circumstances.

Favourable in the sense that Minhyuk could now pull Hyungwon closer to his equally thin frame, tucking his head into Minhyuk’s chest and caging his mile-long legs in Minhyuk’s own. Minhyuk also had full access to the very thick, very luscious, jet-black locks nesting like a luxuriously unruly mop atop Hyungwon’s head. Essentially, they were cuddling.

“When was the last time you washed your hair?” Minhyuk mused, digging his nose into the rabbit hole that was Hyungwon’s hair.

“We’ve been in a sit-in protest for a full 48 hours, babe. You’ve been next to me the entire time. Did you _ see _me wash my hair?”

Minhyuk still hadn’t surfaced from the sea of black strands. “I wasn’t insulting you, babe. I was just asking a question.” Even out of sight Minhyuk’s pout was well-pronounced.

“You seem to have no problem with my hair, washed or not,” Hyungwon mumbled.

Reading the signs of his boyfriend beginning to drift into yet another one of his many, _ many _naps, Minhyuk pulled him in even closer, holding him like a body pillow. Albeit a rather ganglier definition of a body pillow, but Minhyuk was hardly complaining. Most definitely not when he had his warm, pliant boyfriend in his arms after a long 48 hours of cross-legged sitting and chanting in front of the parliament house trying to get the plastic ban legislation to pass. It was an ideal way to wind down after a good cause. Even if they were behind bars.

“_ When you’re done being insufferably disgusting with each other _.”

Minhyuk looked up from his sanctuary of Hyungwon hair, but only ever so slightly to open his field of vision enough to make eye contact with the figure leaning against the bars of the cell, sharp eyes staring the couple down. Hyungwon barely mumbled out an acknowledgement.

“Oh hey, Ki,” Minhyuk said, lifting a few fingers from their place clutching Hyungwon’s torso in lieu of a greeting wave.

“Are you guys ready to go home or should I come back later when you’re done canoodling?” Kihyun asked, sarcasm so obviously heavy, even if the police officer’s weren’t already moving to unlock the cell doors.

It took the promise of a proper bed (and more cuddling) as well as being released from driving obligations for Hyungwon to finally call upon enough consciousness to get him up and walking (Minhyuk had learned to keep himself a close half-step behind him just in case sleep decided to swoop in unexpectedly for the kill again). Kihyun did not stop grumbling all the way out of the police station nor as he began driving.

“This is the third time already! Could you at least try not to get arrested when you’re doing your dumb protests? I am _ not _ bailing you two out again!”

Minhyuk and Hyungwon were taking up most of the backseat, realigning in their previous position for maximum cuddle comfort and happily turning a deaf ear on Kihyun’s tirade. Minhyuk hummed in contentment when his nose found its sweet spot in Hyungwon’s scalp.

“Are you two even listening to me?” Kihyun demanded.

“Oh shush,” Minhyuk said, resurfacing again only as necessary for him to speak, “I saw the lunchbox on that officer’s table. I _ know _that was yours. Don’t act like coming to the station was a chore.”

That had effectively shut Kihyun up. But only for the span of one traffic light to another.

“I think I liked it better when you and Hyungwon were strangers,” Kihyun commented. “You could target your snark away from me.”

Minhyuk chose not to reply. Mainly because responding to Kihyun only fueled his fire to nag and that was counterproductive to the objective of ceasing his speech, but also because it was much more pleasant to focus his attention on sniffing Hyungwon’s hair and wrapping his arms around his long, lean boyfriend. And to think that a few months ago he had been intent on hating the malleable man now practically melting in his arms.

But now they stood united, fighting for their cause for the environment. To their joy, of course. But to the dismay of their closest friends.

If anybody complained about Minhyuk spouting rants about environmental causes and Hyungwon backing them up or, if they found themselves having to bail out the advocating couple from yet another protest gone wrong, well, in Minhyuk’s opinion, they only had Changkyun to blame.

  
***

**Author's Note:**

> Full Disclaimer: I am a horrible crack writer.
> 
> Thus, the mess that you have with you here today.
> 
> The prompt I received was this: Prompt description: A and B are protesting a cause together and they don't know each other but they both get arrested for being stubborn assholes and they meet in the holding cell at the police station. Bonus points if they actually don't get along and bicker a lot.
> 
> I immediately thought of Hyunghyuk and I'm so very glad that as one of the possible pairings that was requested. Honestly, this is my first time writing Hyunghyuk and _ I absolutely love it_! It can get very tiring to write from Minhyuk's POV just because he is so energetic and we all know his mind runs a mile a second, but it was also a lot of fun! If you had noticed, I took some keys out of their recent shows and Vlives (e.g. Hyungwon driving, Minhyuk cuddling Hyungwon like he did with Changkyun in their Vlive with Kihyun) and I also deliberately made Shownu and Wonho unnamed, even if it is pretty obvious they were there.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed reading and I hope the anon that requested this prompt is happy with how it turned out (I'm really sorry if I didn't meet your expectations!). I also realize there is a pretty large time skip here, so I'm happy to explore all the Hyunghyuk flirting and early dating days in short drabbles, if anyone's interested.
> 
> Please let me know what you think! <3


End file.
